Mama Knows Best

As the mother of young children, I worry about their education. Some of my friends teach in the local school system and describe the overwork and under-appreciation that wears teachers down. With that in mind, I was really pleased to hear about a new educational initiative that seems to be making inroads in our nation’s schools.

The program is called the “System for Teacher andStudent Advancement” (“TAP”). The program engages educators on all levels of the ladder, from policy makers to school administrators to classroom teachers. They collaborate to find strategies to improve our schools. TAP recognizes that our nation’s future is rooted in the ability to successfully educate our next generation. TAP has committed money and resources to making positive changes in classrooms and schools throughout America.

TAP operates under the supervision of education reformer Lowell Milken and the NationalInstitute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) which is a nationally recognized teacher support organization. TAP employs innovative strategies to draw talented teachers to the field, strengthen their skills and retain them in the teaching profession.

TAP is based on quality research which has identified key reasons that prevent some teachers from experiencing success in the classroom. It has also examine the reasons that many successful teachers leave the profession. The TAP methodology addresses these issues by implementing peer mentoring among teachers and opening up challenging and attractive options for career advancements within the educational system.

Schools which have adopted TAP have readjusted their daily schedules to allow teacher planning sessions and teacher-to-teacher assistance. TAP schools also provide compensation to teachers whose pupils demonstrate academic improvement as measured by an empirical evaluation tool, the Teaching Skills, Knowledge and Responsibility Standards. Finally, TAP schools reward teachers with salary increases when they take on additional responsibilities within the school.

Some of my friends with older children are already involved in trying to bring TAP to my community’s school system.

One of the things I am not madly in love with at our local school is their bullying policy.  Our school is supposed to have an anti-bullying policy in place and though it is written in the handbook, it is seldom followed.  The high school principal is the biggest culprit when it comes to breaking the rules.  He makes exceptions for those he deems worthy and throws the book at those who he could careless about.  I have had the displeasure of watching this unfold and am completely disgusted by it.  Two prime examples about his lack of caring:

• The daughter to a friend on mine was pregnant during her senior year (last year).  A much younger boy, maybe thirteen or fourteen, began bullying her while she was pregnant.  He managed to shove her to the ground and then on another date, tried pushing her down the stairs.  When it was brought to the principal’s attention all he could say was “well, you know he’s not all there mentally.”  Had this particular individual been able to push her down the stairs would he have felt the same way?  What if he would have injured her and that unborn baby?  Her husband and mother pointed this out to him and all he could do was shrug his shoulders, assure them that he would keep better watch and once again, that he was not all mentally there.
• My nephew (not really blood related, but whatevs) is bullied non-stop.  Teachers watched as student’s threw water bottles and books at his head.  They chose to turn their heads away and pretend as though they saw nothing.  When we approached the principal, he just shrugged the whole scenario off.  He did not have any other eyewitnesses to these accounts.

Watching bullying take place in the schools makes me sick to my stomach.  Reading in a seniors memory book that they did not enjoy their school years because of the years of bullying they had to endure broke my heart.  It makes me think of that episode of Glee, where two of the biggest culprits created an anti-bullying coalition.  Obviously, my intentions are more pure and true.  As I do believe parents, students, faculty and community members need to take a course on bullying prevention.

Over the past week, I have had the most odd revelation.  I no longer want to be a nurse.  Don’t get me wrong, I love helping people and I love taking care of people.  I am just stuck in this funk about the amount of paperwork they expect of healthcare professionals.  When I made the decision to pursue a career in nursing, it was to help people.  Not to be bombarded in paperwork up to my eyeballs.  I know all the paperwork is necessary for careful documentation, but really?  Maybe it people were less law suit happy and went about their business as they should, we could get back to the basics.  To the days when nurses helped people rather than being holed up behind desks.

I know the paperwork dilemma is not just in nursing, but in all parts of the medical field.  My friend Krista went to school to become a Speech-Language Pathologist and is currently looking for Speech-Language Pathologist Jobs. After researching her career of choice, I toyed around with the idea. However, once again, I would find myself having to fill out a mountain of paperwork again.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not against paperwork or having a paper trail. I just find it sad when these two things are keeping people from doing the job of their dreams and what the true definition of their job description is. So now I am back at square one, trying to figure out something I really want to do.